Need More Bandwidth? Feds Propose Spectrum Plan

The Commerce Department on Monday recommended that 115 MHz of spectrum be allocated for wireless broadband use in the next five years.

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From 4G service to smartphones that can do everything but cook your dinner, the wireless space is exploding. But with millions of people surfing the wireless Web, when will we reach the end of our bandwidth capabilities?

Providers have long called for more spectrum to help alleviate this problem, and the Commerce Department on Monday announced a step in that direction with a plan to allocate 115 MHz of spectrum to wireless broadband in the next five years.

"We have identified the first steps for unlocking a significant amount of the spectrum needed to reach the President's 10-year goal," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement. "This complex undertaking is critical to enhance America's economic competitiveness at home and abroad and promises to improve our quality of life."

In June, President Obama ordered the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) within Commerce to work with the Federal Communications Commission to free up 500-MHz over the next 10 years. On Monday, NTIA released a 10-year timetable, as well as a fast track option for what can be done in the next five years.

Specifically, NTIA identified four spectrum bands that could be allocated in the near future. One of those is currently used for the dissemination of severe weather information and alerts via satellites operated by Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; another would be shared with Department of Defense radar systems, mainly on ships.

CTIA, the wireless industry trade association, said in a statement that the NTIA announcement recognizes "the wireless industry's important role as an economic driver."

"We believe that NTIA's efforts to free government spectrum for licensed commercial use are essential to helping the U.S. wireless industry maintain our world leadership in mobile innovation, and we will carefully review NTIA's report," CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent said in a statement. "By making spectrum available for auction, the Federal government will enable the wireless industry to continue to invest billions of dollars to purchase the licensed spectrum, and billions more to build and upgrade the networks that fuel our 'virtuous cycle' of innovation."

The move was met with praise from the consumer electronics industry.

"The administration's action is a true 'win-win'  it will help jumpstart innovation and create jobs," Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association, said in a statement. "More, we continue to support the idea of a voluntary process that reclaims a significant amount of underused spectrum from the broadcast TV bands. This market-based 'Mobile Futures Auction' is the type of additional action needed to ensure Americans can have wireless access and that our country continues to be a leader in innovation."

As part of its national broadband plan, the FCC earlier this year proposed allowing broadcast television stations to voluntarily sell some of their spectrum for mobile broadband purposes. Once a spectrum inventory is in place, the White House also backs a plan to auction off available spectrum, with the money going towards public-safety networks, job-creating infrastructure, and deficit reduction.

"Incentive auctions of broadcast spectrum will be an important part of the plan to put this valuable national resource to use to benefit the most people," Ed Black, president and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said in a statement.

"Our society is on the brink of a wireless technology revolution," Senator John Kerry said in a statement. "Today's announcement will help ensure that America leads that revolution. Technologies that we can't even imagine today will transform our lives in the coming years, and private firms need access to more space in the public airwaves so they can innovate and unleash that next generation of jobs here in America. I'm committed to getting this done and will make it a priority going into the next Congress."

Trade group TechAmerica, meanwhile, said in a Monday press call that the additional spectrum is a "strong start." It "will help to satisfy demand for wireless," the group said, though "further action by congress and NTIA is necessary to fully meet the tech industry's need."

TechAmerica hosted its call to discuss tech-related issues that Congress should address in its upcoming lame duck session. Among the group's priorities are the extension of the now-expired federal R&D tax credit, the passage of cyber-security measures, and delaying a pending withholding requirement for government payments to contractors.

The group said the R&D tax credit issue should be "no brainer" since there is support for it on both sides of the aisle. Passing a larger, comprehensive cyber-security bill might take more of an effort, so TechAmerica proposed pulling out certain provisions that are more likely to pass than others and making them standalone bills, like reforming the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from American University...
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